My television was less than 3 years old when the screen went black and made a loud buzzing noise. The first repair shop had the tv for over two months but could not obtain any parts from RCA in Ontarion, Canada.
A second repair shop was able to order parts (i.e. flyback??) but the original parts were not available, only generic parts. They subsequently "blew up" also and they will not attempt to fix the problem again. The RCA website is meant for US customers only and they have not responded to my e-mails. any suggestions on how to contact RCA to make a complaint or sugegstions on how to fix? Much appreciated.
frisutrated in NL, Canada
Sorry to tell you I just used the last flyback I had on a 36" set someone gave me. They do not have them available any longer unless you can find a distributor that still has one in stock. Im told if they can be found they will sell them at a premium price. I will tell you why the other parts went bad. The shop most likly didnt know wht causes this part to go bad. There is a small coil called L401, thats located by the horizontal output transistor and its connected to the base of that transistor and the other end is off the secondary of the horizontal driver transformer. The coil must be taken out and the leads scraped off and reinserted into the chassis. Also with the original part theres a small capacitor that comes with the flyback that has to be replaced at the same time. If these parts are replaced and done with the generic parts, they will work with no problem, If not it will blow up again within a month or two. Im sorry i dont have a clue who to go thru in Canada. You might go to a store that sells the RCA ,Thompson, or GE brand and find out if theres a local number or a service number or service and support in canada. Good luck and please let us know how you made out.
I eventually received a reply from rca.com and making up a US address and providing them with my e-mail address. Referred me to Thomson Inc located in Ontario, Canada. It was the worst customer service experience of my life, obgoing now for over 1 month. The company agreed to provide me with a refund, not an exchange. I have had to call well over a dozen times on the issue with the refund amount reduced from a full refund, to $562 and then $342. The staff continually contradict each other and either did not retuen calls on time if at all. The notes they make to the case # for my complaint are totally differetn from what they state on the phone. They are unwilling to check the phone conversations to verify the information I was provided. I will never by an RCA product again.
I checked with three repair shops in my city and all of them had this model RCA lined up for repairs.
I truly believe it is a faulty model based on what I have seen so far.
Still frustrated in NL, Canada
Your not alone my freind and I feel for you too! Its a shame when a company as big as RCA or Thompson cannot get the customer service correct. You should write a letter about your concerns to the president of the company as I have for many things in the past. Sometimes I never hear from them, but sometimes I get a very good response. What the hay, give it a shot. Not only will it make you feel better, you may get something out of it. Just be nice and precise in the letter. Good Luck and let us know how you made out.
I originally received a cheque for about $320 for the television in October, 2006. However, I continued to make calls and inquiries about the low amount. I wrote a very detailed timeline of my experiences and sent letters to both the Office of the President and the Ombudsmans offivce in the United States. After a total of 6 letters and two months later I received a call wherein the RCA representative apologized for the poor service at Thomson which made her cringe. She thanked me for the detailed letter and stated my case would be used as a training tool. In the meantimeI ran into the owner of the store that was no longer in business and he was able to provide me with a receipt for the television. With this new information I was told I qualified for an additional $245 which I received in early February, 2007.
So, after ~50 phone calls and six letters I was able to recoup $565 on the television. Its not what I was originally promised but is reasonable. My advice is to keep detailed notes/dates of all conversations and don't take no for an answer. I have since purchased a 42' AKai Plasma tv, no more RCA products for me.
I agree with you Jeff, persistance does pay off! Good to hear. Thanks for letting us know.
That is great. I am going to contact RCA and see if they will take care of the problem of not being able to get a flyback or recieve a refund. I am so disappointed that my TV went out after only 3 years. In my family room I now have 13inch sitting next to my 36inch TV.
"I have since purchased a 42' AKai Plasma tv"
Haha good luck dumbass. Akai products are far worse than RCA.
I, too, have one of these sets with the same problem. I am intending on replacing the flyback myself and would like to get it right the first time. I'm having a hard time finding the part # for the capacitor mentioned previously as being included with an O.E.M. transformer replacement. Can someone give me the part# ??? Thanks
I too have the same problem. My tv broke 1 year to the day of the extended warranty I purchased through Best Buy! So now I have a huge tv that don't work! So not only stay away from RCA but stay away from Best Buy too. No one will agree to fix it and you know what, I think I am going to break things in Best Buys all over the country so you will never know if you go into Best Buy if you might end up with a broken piece of crap that is thanks to me! So just don't go into Best Buy!!!